The Faculty Senate met Thursday and considered issues ranging from Rick Neuheisel’s new $1.5 million loan to changing the calendar start of the fall quarter to protesting the Regents’ decision to include only two faculty members on the presidential search committee. But the centerpiece of the meeting was President Lee Huntsman’s warning that the governor’s budget proposal is going to be a jaw-dropper.
The governor’s budget will be released on Dec 17 and Huntsman said that it is likely to propose "draconian" cuts to the UW budget as well as several other state programs. This budget, he said, is just a starting point and will not reflect any new revenues that might be tapped to make up part of the state’s enormous shortfall. He also thinks the Governor may be trying to "get everyone’s attention" in this first round and that when the legislature begins to work on it, the prospects will improve. In any case he asked the Senate to spread the word: "Please don’t be too alarmed at what is going to be happening in the next two weeks."
Right.
After that it was only fitting that the subject should turn to football. Athletic Director Barbara Hedges responded to a Senate request for information about Coach Neuheisel’s big summer raise, which she explained, was not really a raise, but a loan designed to keep him at UW until 2008 (at which point the loan is forgiven). The only Senator who had managed by that point to recover from the draconian budget warning stood up to ask Hedges if she had any advice on how the University might become as wealthy and well managed as the athletic program, and whether she might be willing to accept the presidential post. She declined.
Calendar changes were next. A proposal to begin fall quarter a few days earlier in order to leave more time for final exam grading has been vetted by a number of faculty committees and was discussed on the floor. The sense of the Senate was that it would be best to begin the new system in 2004 instead of next year.
Finally, the Senate considered and approved a resolution introduced by Norman Wolf (Pathology) concerning the presidential search. It reads:
"Be it resolved that the University of Washington Senate expresses a sense of disappointment and protest that the 15 member committee to pursue the choice of a new President for this great University includes only 2 faculty members. Since it is the faculty who will be most affected in their daily efforts in teaching and research by the choice made, the new President should be chosen only after major input from several delegates chosen by the faculty."